Car-roof



(No Model.)

J. WALTER,

OAR ROOF.

Patented Oct. 16, 1883*.

' WITNESSES: Z INVENTOR:

M-W Q f ATTORNEYS.

I tachable or portable roof which may be quickly 4 nately and extendingfrom the apex of the connection and a tight joint.

UNITED STATES PATENT; OFFICE JOHN WALTER, or NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. I

r CAR-ROOF.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o.'286,877, dated October16, 1883.

Application filed July 27, 1883. (No model.)

[0 mil whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J oHN' WALTER, of Nash= ville, in the county ofDavidson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in (Jar-Roofs; and I do hereby deelare'that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a partial plan View of a car=roof with one of the platesremoved and a portion of the hand-rail and running-board broken away.Fig. 2 is a cross-section through the line 00 0c of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3is an edge view of the roof from the side of the'car.

My invention relates to roofs for railwaycars; and its object istoprovide a readily deremoved or applied in part or whole, and also toafford greater security to the brakeman in running along the top of thecar, as well as to provide an efficient means for ventilating the car.These objects are attained in the construction and arrangement of partswhich I will now proceed to describe.

In the drawings, A represents the sheathing or top casing of thecar-body, which forms the foundation for the roof, and has a slightinclination or slope upon each side from the middle line of the car. Theroof is composed of sheet-metal plates B and B, arranged alterear-roofto the sides thereof. The two plates B and B are of differentconstruction, and are adapted, when placed together, toform a watertightjoint. The two edges of any one plate are exactly alike. The plates Bare screwed or nailed to the sheathing a distance apart equal to thewidth of plates B, and the latter are then slid longitudinally upon andover the edges of the plates B, to form the necessary The plates B havetheir longitudinal edges bent (see Fig. 3) first upwardly and inwardlytoward the plate, to form the ledge or flange a, then back upon theflange and downwardly, and then up to form the groove or trough b, andthen down again and horizontally at g. The plates B have theirlongitudinal edges bent upwardly andoutwardl'y from the plate at anobtuse angle at 0, then horizontally at d, and-then downwardly andinwardly toward the plate at e. In fitting the plates, those marked Bare corrugations on each side, no water can work in at this joint, andif any does get in it passes out the drain-trough b.

At the upper ends of the plates B the upturned flanges h aredisconnected on opposite sides of the middle of the. car, so that saidplates may be drawn apart from each other in taking the roof off thecar, but the upper flanges, z', of the plates B are turned over eachother to form a connection or tie across the apex of the roof. At thelower edges of both series of plates aredownwardlyproj ecting flanges jand la, which are nailed or screwed to the bargeboards or sides of thecar.

Extending along the middle line of the car is the running-board O, whichhas'supports Z on each side of the middle, which rest upon the flatpartof the roof-plates. In the middle of this running-board, on theunder side, is a ventilating-groove, m, which communicates with'holes inthe top of the car through the spaces between the disconnected flanges hof the plates B, thus securing the ventilation of the car.

In sleety weather, or when the car-roof is covered with ice, the passingof the brakemen over the top of the car is attended with great danger ofslipping off. To prevent this I provide a hand-rail, E, which extendsalongside of the running-board, and is sustained in brackets F five orsix inches above the roof of the car. These brackets are screwed orriveted tothe sliding plates B, an elastic packing being interposedbetween them and the plate to close the hole against leakage. Thesebrackets are also bolted horizontally through the running-board, asshown at m". The handrail is contained in sleeves or sockets of thebrackets, and maybe removed tl1erefron1,When the plates are to be takenofl, by slipping said rail endwise through said sleeves. For formingthis hand-rail, sections of gas-pipe are well adapted, and the ends maybe joined to form a union of the sections by a serew-eoupling at thesleeves of the brackets.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new is 1. A roofcomposed of plates 13 and B, arranged alternately, the plate 13 beingformed with longitudinal flange a and groove b at each of its edges andscrewed to the sheathing, and the plate B having overlapping bend a dand hooked edge 0, adapted to slide upon the edge of other plate andcover it, substantially as describe;

and for the purpose described.

JOHN \VALTER.

Witnesses;

JOHN F. HAURY, Oiisrnn B. KUHN.

